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With the boom of 16 bit technology, the nineties featured a host of fighting games.
While mortal kombat and street fighter were the kings of their genre, a new franchise
would emerge to challenge their reign. A game that wasn't afraid to break the mold.
This.
Is the Killer Instinct Iceberg.
Inspirations
Before Rare brought over Ken Lobb, who was the primary mind behind killer instinct,
to work on the game, he took several inspirations from other games. He knew he wanted to create a
fighting game, but he wanted it to be different. Two games in particular were majorly influential.
The first is world heroes, which featured an auto double attack. Or, one button input resulting in
two consecutive hits. Another game called fatal fury 2, featured the bare bones of a combo system.
While it wasn’t exactly the same as killer instinct, these two games served
as the grounds for the idea behind Killer instinct’s fluid combo system. Although Ken
also recognized the potential downfall of this, being forced to watch your character,
unable to respond. To prevent this issue, he brainstormed the concept of a combo breaker.
While still working at Namco, he was originally working on a different fighting game called Melee.
But he was eventually pulled aside to help Rare with two different massive hit games.
Package Deal
Ken Lobb was pulled off of that other fighting game to work on a little game called donkey kong
country. This title would go on to be one of the first mainstream uses of pre rendered 3d graphics.
This incredible technology was actually the same tech that was used to create the film Jurassic
park. This made the games look fantastic, and way ahead of their time. However, the technology
required for this game was more than expected, causing Rare to utilize this technology on more
than just DKC. It’s unsure how much development overlayed between the two games, but one song in
particular was taken from the killer instinct song list, and used instead by donkey kong country.
Brute Force
The other game that Ken Lob was put on was a fighting game called brute force. Their
original plans for the game were more similar to the other big fighting game hits at the time,
street fighter and mortal kombat. Obviously the characters had different names and identities
at the time as well. Ken Lobb decided to share his idea for an elaborate combo system,
as well as the combo breaker. After much deliberation and effort, the plans had been
put into motion. It would eventually go on to be the second game to visually count combo hits,
and the third to use chain combos. Fortunately, the game’s name shifted into killer instinct,
which was much more appropriate for the identity of their vision.
Jago Balance
Killer Instinct has been notoriously balanced around Jago’s move set. Upon the character’s
completed move list, each of the new characters were rigorously tested against Jago’s move set
to reach a state of balance. Some argue that the preferential treatment of Jago’s character
was apparent, leading to the character becoming one of the most popular within the franchise.
Setting the Bar
While Killer Instinct may not have had the most sizable fighting game community of all time,
it’s undeniable that the team behind it set the standard for many games after it.
Let’s examine some of the most notable aspects of the game, and how they made sure to leave an
impression on players. This was especially the case during the original game’s release in 1994.
For a Nintendo kid in the nineties, Killer Instinct was just indescribable. And back before
the internet as we know it, the first time many people saw K I, was just a teaser at the end of
a promotional VHS tape. Most people would probably see it as being cheezy now, but as a child in that
age, it was the epitome of cool. This solidified many peoples' interest and piqued their curiosity.
And it left myself, along with many others, with a feeling that is impossible to replicate.
Let’s Get Ready to Rumble
The energetic and phrenetic announcer of K I,
was absurdly over the top, and it was absolutely amazing because of it. There are few other game
announcers that could even reach the level of killer instinct. Before the players were
even able to step foot into battle, they were introduced to the iconic announcer.
And perhaps the only announcer that could attempt to get on his level was Michael Buffer,
with his iconic 400 million dollar phrase...
Or perhaps the announcer from my favorite FPS game of old…
The dev team wanted to gain an audible edge over other games in the arcades present at the time.
They had a sneaky tactic they used to incorporate this. The game was programmed
to progressively increase the announcer's volume as your combo count increases.
The idea was that when the game’s volume was being initially set up by the arcade operator,
they would adjust it based around the general sound effect and music volume. But as people
learned the combos and understood the game better, the lesser seen ultra combo, and combo breaker,
were upwards of 40% louder than the rest of the game’s volume. This made it so when players
landed devastating ultra combos in the arcade, it boomed throughout the area, making sure everyone
around was aware of it. And even though we got a new announcer for the most recent game, the
tenacity brought by the new announcer only stayed consistent as the franchise developed over time.
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Unmatchable Music
Right along with the announcer, there was the equally epic music.
From the very first moment you turn on the console, the music was engaging and pulled you in.
It had an air of mystery and was complemented so well by the guitar riffs. Then as you proceed
through the various levels in the game, you’ll hear all the unique and engaging music. And each
of them have soundtracks that are appropriatly fitting to the characters that they are home to.
Something unique about the killer instinct games is their ramped up music revolving
around the combo system. The development team went through many challenges in attempt to make
the music even more engrossing than in previous installments.
Not only are all the hits registered within the combo, but the music will accelerate,
reverse, and change drastically depending on the combo that each player uses.
And perhaps best of all was the included music cd that came with the SNES version of killer
instinct. It featured extended versions of all the music included in the game itself.
While the music isn’t for everybody, myself along with many others truly enjoyed listening to it.
And it really was the icing on the delicious cake known as killer instinct.
Double Life
K I implemented a system that was not common in its time,
that consisted of two energy bars that needed to be fully depleted in order to lose.
If you deplete your opponents health bar before your own, your opponent would enter their second
life, while your health remains at what it was. Instead of restarting both players’ health bars
at the end of each round, this system offered a different approach, with different pros and cons.
With many fans arguing it's flat out the best health bar system in any fighting game.
Nintendo’s Finishers
Mortal Kombat had previously set the bar for finishing moves.
But Nintendo had much stricter policies for their games. So K I borrowed upon the finisher idea,
and removed all the more questionable graphic elements. Instead, they implemented finishers
called No Mercy, which were used in the same manner as Mortal Kombat’s Fatality finishers.
Instead of blood and dismembering, the characters would disguise or cover their acts.
Sometimes even blacking out the screen entirely to prevent certain acts from being seen.
Another finisher was the humiliation option. This would force your opponent to dance,
as your own character poses in victory. Each character
had several different dance animations available to them.
And perhaps the most visually appealing option was the ultra combo finisher.
It functions like an ultimate combo, but instead it allows the character to string together more
than 20 consecutive hits to destroy your opponent. Oftentimes, characters were able to launch their
opponents off the stage. But they kept consistent with their standards, never displaying anything
too graphic. But perhaps what’s most notable about these over-the-top combos was the layered
sound effects, truly adding weight to each hit, making it sound punchy and satisfying.
Evolving fighting Game
Another staple that was popularized by Killer Instinct, was the free to play fighting game.
The first two killer instinct games were fully fleshed out games. But for K I 2013,
they opted for a different route. Players could essentially download and play the game for free.
But they were limited to one character, which is often what many players do anyway.
If you wished to purchase more characters, they were available for purchase. This lack of an entry
barrier allowed new players to experience the game without committing. The benefit for this
system allowed the developers to continue adding new characters over time with a seasonal model.
Many online capable games implement this model today through various genres. But this also
introduced a new aspect, an evolving meta. Even games that haven’t changed in 20 years will have
an evolving meta in the competitive scene. But when new characters are added regularly, it can
require balance changes to previous characters, forcing the meta to evolve even further.
Breaker Evolution
As we discussed earlier, the idea for combo breakers actually came long before the release of
Killer Instinct. Ken Lobb envisioned a reactive kind of gameplay where players could engage in
combos, and respond to them accordingly. They incentivized combo breakers for a number of
reasons.There was also an additional layer to the game known as shadow power. When a
character breaks a combo, a little sparkle will appear at the end of that player's health bar.
When you gain shadow power, your character gains bonuses like additional missiles,
or increased speed. Certain characters can gain their shadow power through other means as well.
Sabre wolf can howl to gain his shadow power. And Spinal was able to absorb enemy specials to
gain his. All of these mechanics made for a very interesting and dynamic combo breaker system.
But the system wasn’t perfect. Combo breakers almost worked too well, and Many players were
able to capitalize on the system by abusing them. To prevent this issue from occurring, they added
another 2 new elements. The new system was called the Counter Breaker. At any point during your
combo, you can immediately stop it, and enter a counter pose. If the opponent attempts to
perform a combo break while you’re in this pose, you will punish them with a giant energy blast,
and immediately re-enter the combo sequence. But the other element it added was the combo lockout.
The player that misses the combo breaker is prevented from performing a combo break
for three seconds. This added an additional layer of skill and reaction opportunities.
Both players now had multiple options to counter their opponent at all times throughout the match.
2013 Additions
Along with the implementation of the counter breaker, 2013 also introduced several other new
features. The knockdown value meter fills up as your combos are executed. If your meter fills up,
your combos that aren’t finished completely, cause a blowout attack and all potential damage
begins to regenerate. However, the other new addition to 2013 can be used in tandem with this.
As a player takes damage or executes combo breakers, an instinct mode gauge begins to fill
up. When it’s full, players can activate instinct mode. Activating this resets the previously
mentioned knockdown value, allowing players to execute combos more effectively. On top of this,
each character has their own unique perks when activating this mode. For instance,
Jago’s instinct allows his endokuken to fire twice, and he gains a life drain
effect. Orchid’s instinct mode allows her to summon fire cats for additional attacks.
The Comics
There were two comic book adaptations taken from the game.
The first of which was published in 1996. It featured 6 issues that each went over
the backstory of the various characters throughout the game. It also goes further
in depth on the infamous Ultra tech and their secrets leading up to the tournament.
The second wave of comics was released from 2016 to 2017.
These seem to take place after the tournament has ended and gargos has been defeated.
Naturally, the battle wasn’t truly over and the previously weakened heroes continue their journey.
These also went further into the backstory of the additional characters added in 2013.
It also covers the void that was left by the evil shadow lord Gargos.
The Future
As of right now, Killer Instinct 2013 is still available. We’ve seen the game’s roster increase
to over 25 characters through the seasons. And as previously mentioned, the game has seen a
number of changes as each patch came and went. But after the third season of killer instinct ended,
the game’s updates drastically decreased. We see some tournaments that are still taking place,
but it’s clear that interest and development for the game has waned.
Despite this, Iron Galaxy has admitted in an interview just earlier this year,
that they’d love to work on a new killer instinct if Xbox was interested. And just a
couple months after the interview stating this, the official killer instinct website performed
an entire overhaul to their website. Although we’ve not received any confirmation on this,
some fans are absolutely convinced that a new killer instinct game is currently in development.
What are your thoughts on this? Be sure to check out the documentaries by Hold Back to Block.
They are absolutely worth the watch and will be linked below.
Though perhaps not quite as popular as other fighting games, K I has cemented itself in
fighting game history. The game had a host of unique aspects and features that allowed it
to generate a cult following. Many of which would become standards within their genre.
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